Who is Michael Mancienne?

The selection of Michael Mancienne, the 20-year-old Chelsea centre-half, in the England squad to play Germany is an intriguing one, as the defender has yet to kick a competitive ball in the Premier League

New kid on the block: Wolves' defender Michael Mancienne received a call-up to the full England squad for the friendly with GermanyPhoto: PA

Despite being scouted by Chelsea as an eight-year-old – he made his debut for Chelsea reserves while he was still at school – and signing a professional contract in January 2006, Mancienne is yet to play in a competitive league match for the club, although he has appeared on the substitutes' bench.

Instead Mancienne, who will be 22 by the time the 2010 World Cup starts in South Africa, is on loan at Wolverhampton Wanderers until the end of next month.

Chelsea have repeatedly sent him on loan to gain match experience, first to Queens Park Rangers, in 2006. His performances in defence, mostly at right-back, made him runner-up in the supporters' Young Player of the Year award, and earned him the praise of former manager John Gregory, who described him as one of "England and Chelsea's brightest young talents".

Mancienne, said to be frustrated by his failure to break into the first team squad at Chelsea, joined Wolves on loan at the end of last month.

Internationally, Mancienne rejected the offer of representing the Seychelles in favour of playing for England, and he captained the Under-18s before earning his call-up to Stuart Pearce's Under-21s in 2007.

The step up to the senior squad will apparently be an opportunity to speak to some of his footballing idols, for although he has trained at Chelsea's Cobham complex, he has admitted that he did not get much of a chance to speak to the first-team players.

"When I was at Chelsea I used to speak to some of the first-team players on the training ground, but not too often," he explained. Let alone speaking with them, should John Terry be found fit, he could play alongside him. "I would love it if I have the chance to play next to Terry," he said.

"He's very good," is Terry's assessment of the defender. "We've got a lot of players at Chelsea and he's been eager to go out and prove that he's good enough. Stuart Pearce was saying that he's been the best player in the Under-21s. His form has been fantastic for Wolves. He's got a bright future.

"When you go out on loan you have to stand on your own two feet and deal with things," Terry added. "We sent him up there on his own to let him get on with it. If he can play football regularly for Wolves and other big clubs then he has got a chance to come back and do it at Chelsea."

Mancienne has also impressed his Wolves manager Mick McCarthy. "He's a good guy and a good defender," McCarthy said recently. "I was thrilled to get him and I've been thrilled with his performances."